Enter the Caspiers Guild!
by Musicstarnc
Summary: Daphne tells the tale of a normal training session in Waterfall Woods with her guildmates: Henry, Nickole, Kiseki, and Jaye. Until things go wrong and it's up to them to be the heroes and save two new explorers who are just now discovering the dangers that lurk within the labyrinth's beautiful floors. Do things turn out or take a turn for the tragic? One-shot meant to be an intro.


**Guys, I got EO3 a few days ago... I played it for a while (read: ALL DAY LONG). Stoopid Great Lynxes. *grumbling* Anywhooo, I wanted to introduce you guys to some of the guild members, so here's a little one-shot for ya! And while I'm at it, I AM working on a few one-shots for _Explorers of Tharsis and All Things. _Once I'm done with the one I've been secretly writing in class I'll put it up for ya! See you at the bottom~**

_- 5 AM, Waterfall Woods -_

_"Yaaaaaaaaaaawn,"_ I yawned quite audibly. "I'm tired, Jaye. Can we _please _go back to Armoroad now?" I whined.

"You're tired already!?" Jaye scoffed in return. The silver haired hoplite promptly turned toward the other guild members, her fire-colored irises alight with disappointment. I, the guild's zodiac, sighed. The hoplite certainly took pride in her training skills, but running us into the ground all night? It was a little much for any starting out guild. She turned to the others as well.

Nickole, our monk, ran up to us panting. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something but simply collapsed on the ground in a heap. Henry, our gladiator, wasn't too far behind her but he too collapsed on top of the pinkette. She made a sharp squeak and the ginger rolled off her and next to her instead.

"Ohhhh..." he moaned in agony.

I gestured to the two lying on the ground. "Case in point." I fixed a look on Jaye but jumped at the feel of a pair of strong hands gripping my shoulders.

"I agree with Daph..." Kiseki's voice rang in my ears. I turned to face him. The boy sounded alright but dang could he use a nap. I suppose he was used to Jaye's training regimens but even he looked like he was reaching the end of his rope.

Jaye sniffed haughtily. "You too, huh?" She looked plenty disappointed. "Fine. I guess we can go back to Armoroad for now..."

"THERE IS A GOD!" Nickole jumped up and cried. That wasn't really necessary, but I was thinking the exact same thing so I'm really in no position to judge. Nickole was all gung-ho once again but we were going to have to carry Henry from the looks of it.

She made quick work of healing his wounds, and he stood. He ruffled his think bright orange hair and yawned. "Let's go..." He started moving toward the front of the labyrinth and we all followed silently. Some more enthusiastic about it than others.

Then a duet of horrible screaming ripped through the air.

It sounded relatively close. All of us exchanged mixed glanced and ran as a group in the direction where we'd heard it. Thanks Nickole's awesome mapping skills we found the source fast, taking shortcuts wherever we could.

I was the next one to shriek at the horrible sight laid out before me.

On the ground was a medium sized girl, collapsed on herself. A puddle of blood spread out from beneath her. Her skin was pale as a porcelain doll, her short pink garment was soaked dark red. Her short brown hair was matted and also soaked in her own blood. Nickole knelt beside her, putting her ear next to her mouth and hesitating for what seemed an eternity. "Thank the gods, she's still breathing," Nickole exhaled relieved. "You guys take care of that Great Lynx, I'll heal her."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" We all jumped, startled at the sudden battle cry. The girl who was shouting was incredibly young, she couldn't have been older than eleven at most. Her long black hair was pulled up in a bun on top with the rest free. She wore a small red crop top and baggy forest green pants. In her hands were two daggers. She rushed the ferocious feline and stabbed it wherever she could reach. Her blows were accurate but not nearly strong enough. She spun trying to dodge the cat's sharp claws. She managed to avoid having her chest sliced open but her leg was caught. Her clothing ripped and she fell to the ground. A stream of red flowed from her open thigh.

The Lynx leapt to strike. Tears stemmed in her eyes and she whispered something. I wasted no time firing a fire star spell right in it's face. The cat shrunk in the heat of the spell. Henry rushed it with speed hitting it right on the skull. The cat recovered, shaking off the attack. It pounced toward me but Jaye stepped between us just in time and it met her cold shield. She stuck it with her spear and the light in the feline's eyes dimmed. The creature fell to the ground with a sickening thud, dead. We panted, relieved the beast was dead also slightly awestruck at just how much damage the two had done.

I turned to the little girl who was on the ground staring at us with surprise and amazement. I'd be lying if I didn't admit it made me feel proud of myself. "You... you... you killed it..." She stuttered, completely dumbfounded.

Kiseki was helping Nickole with the other girl, pulling out bandages from our supply bag and a medica to go with it. He handed out resident monk the vial, which she took and he lifted the girl up off the ground lightly. Nickole had closed the wound a bit with her healing qi or whatever, but gods, was it an awful sight now that I could see her dead on.

Her torso was completely torn, still bleeding from all sorts of cuts. Nickole had likely taken care of the internal damage and not the external. I was feeling sick just looking at all of the blood.

"I... I don't think she'll be able to take that like this..." Kiseki's voice shook. His face was equally pale.

"HARU-CHAN!" The little girl scampered over to the injured one and stared at her. "She's gonna be alright?" She looked at Nickole.

"I hope so, let's get her back to Armoroad. The doctors at the inn can do more for her than I can," She looked almost angry with herself. Kiseki stood on shaky legs and tried to shake the blood off his legs.

"I'm not gonna be able to carry her," Kiseki remarked shaky. He wrung his fingers through his long midnight colored hair nervously.

"I'll do it," Henry moved past and picked the girl up carefully. He carried her bridal style as it seemed the least likely to rip her even further open. Nickole nudged the smaller girl forward.

"You should come with us," she said softly. "We'll get her help."

"Y-you're a monk...?" She asked. Nickole seemed to be caught off guard by this out of place question.

"Uh... yeeeeeeees?" She was a monk but Nickole never sounded quite sure when caught off guard.

The girl smiled, delighted. "So am I!" She cried happily.

"That's cool..." She still didn't seem to know how to respond. I smiled at how this little girl had just been facing death but now walked with a spring in her step.

"So... just who are you two?" Kiseki asked, looking at the less marked up little girl. He leg was still bleeding heavily but she walked on with no problems.

"I'm Meilin!" She cheered. "A monk... kinda-sorta. I can't really heal anyone yet," She scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

"And she is...?" He pointed at Henry without looking in that particular direction. For a swellsword who loved adventure, he had a strong aversion to blood. But he tried to help as best as he could.

"Haru-chan!" She smiled again. Her happy gaze flickered into an incredibly worried one before her grin bounced back.

"How did you two wind up traveling together?" Nickole asked this time.

"Oh, we're sisters. Haru-chan is older than me," The little girl replied.

"Sisters? You two don't look all that alike..." I remarked passing my gaze between the little monk and Haru-chan.

"We're adoptive siblings. She's sixteen; I'm twelve," she responded, looking at me.

"Oh..." was the only logical response my brain could come up with.

We reached the stairs relatively fast, from there it was a quick run to Armoroad. Haru-chan was not looking good.

I burst through the doors to Aman's Inn holding them as best I could. Hey, not my fault that I'm small! Henry and Meilin rushed inside. The innkeeper looked horrified as she got a look at the girl in Henry's arms. She screamed for the doctor before we even got to the front desk. Familiar faces rushed past carefully lifting the girl from Henry's arms and onto a stretcher they'd brought out just for her.

Meilin's features transformed into something horribly worried once she looked at her sister. "I... thought you healed her..." I guess she didn't realize just how badly hurt Haru was. The girl had been on the brink of death. But, fighting for your own life I assume makes you a bit thick to the other things going on in the world. Still... I hoped she made it out okay.

One of the other doctors healed up our scratches for the night. We had no money to get a room at the inn and so we all just sat in the lobby. Nickole eventually nodded off, and Henry too. Kiseki was drifting in and out of a sleeping state. As for me, I was tired but was sticking it out with Meilin, who waited patiently outside the clinic. She sat cross legged and unmoving, staring at the door. I had no doubt she was willing the doctor to come out and pronounce her sister okay. It was a miracle in itself she'd still been alive when we found them, but now was the real test to see if she'd make it through or not.

Finally when two in the morning rolled around the head doctor came out looking wiped. All who were coherent enough stood and stared.

The doctor smiled. "She's going to make it." I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Meilin stared bawling instantly, Jaye, who'd also been awake, nodded happily. She smiled slightly. Kiseki's eyes flitted open and he smiled warmly. Henry and Nickole were fast asleep but I'm sure they'd be delighted with the news.

"Can I see her?" Meilin asked the doctor.

"Are you Meilin?" The doctor asked.

"Yes," she responded warily. The doctor smiled.

"She's been asking for you since she woke up a bit ago. By all means, go see her." Meilin rushed inside. The doctor then turned to us, "I'm more than sure she'd be interested in seeing the guild to whom she owes her life as well."

"Haru-chan!" I heard Meilin yell, once I passed through the door. Haru was all stitched up on one of the clinic's beds. Her entire torso was wrapped heavily with gauze in addition to the bandages on her arm. Her hand was also thickly wrapped and she had a patch on her cheek just below the left eye. Her eyes were a brilliant green, by the way. Her brown hair was wet and hung limply. I guess they'd washed it for her. The little monk climbed up on to the bed and hugged the older. She cringed in pain and Meilin let go. "You're okay?"

"Much better. How did you fare so well? I mean, I knew you were tough but really?" Haru chided the little girl, her eyes practically gleaming with pride.

"Actually, I had help," Meilin bushed. Then she saw me and her eyes widened. "Her! I remember, she helped!" She pointed at me and as much as I would have liked to chew her out on how rude it is to point she had caught me off guard. So rather than stride up to them proudly and tell them who I was and how things had happened, as well as get some answers from Haru; I didn't. I blushed and waved awkwardly. Stupid I know but old habits die hard, I suppose.

My fellow guild members came in behind me.

"Are you the people who helped my little sis?" Haru asked us, she tilted her head quizzically, almost like a cat. "Thank you! Oh, thank you!" She beamed at us.

"It was nothin'..." Nickole waved her hand dismissively.

"What's your name? Meilin calls you Haru but..." Jaye broke in.

"Yeah, figures she'd tell you my nickname and not my real name; I'm Haruhi, a ninja. And you all are?" Haru fully introduced herself.

"I'm Daphne, the zodiac," I waved at her again.

"Kiseki... I'm just a swellsword." Kiseki was ringing his hands through that long hair of his again.

"The name's Henry, gladiator. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Henry bowed like the true gentleman he would never be.

"Jaye, I'm a hoplite..." Jaye was shooting Kiseki a look but held her tongue. Those two had a weird dynamic.

"And I'm Nickole! Resident nutjob at your service," Nickole waved with that huge grin of hers. Haruhi and Meilin smiled.

"It's nice to met all of you. And, please, if there's any way we can pay you back for helping us, just let us know. We don't have much in terms of money but... we could run some errands for you or something... well, once I'm better anyway." Haruhi glanced at the many bandages on her body, most likely questioning if she'd ever be fit to move again.

"Are you two explorers?" Nickole asked.

"Kind of... we were just doing an odd request in there. Though we aren't a part of a guild or anything..." Haruhi blushed unnecessarily, she would probably be twiddling her thumbs too if her hands weren't so bandaged.

"Well, why not join us?" Nickole stated bluntly. We all turned to stare at her. Technically she was the head of the guild and usually we just did whatever crazy thing.. but trying to recruit two random people? Well... I had to hand it to them, they _were_ pretty skilled. Just the two of them weren't enough to take the Great Lynx down but man had they weakened it. They still gave us problems now and again, and there was always five of us.

Okay, maybe we could use talent like theirs.

"But... well. I'm a monk that doesn't know how to... monk," Meilin blushed a deep red. Man, did I know _that_ feeling. "I'm good at fighting... somewhat but I couldn't heal a paper cut if I tried."

"What if you became my apprentice then?" Nickole was saying random things again. "I can teach you how to monk with style! Besides, I still have things I need to learn. Maybe helping you can also help me; everyone wins!" She threw her hands up happily and I'll admit, even I couldn't argue her special kind of logic.

"Okay!" Meilin cheered. Well, one was on board.

"You really think I'd be of any use? I can't even protect my little sister from a stupid cat..." Haruhi said dejectedly.

"Do you know how many death Great Lynxes are responsible for? A lot. You're a talented fighter, Haru-chan. We could use someone like you," Henry sounded reassuring.

"I don't know..." Haruhi looked down.

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun! Besides you _are _really good at fighting. So are they. It could be win-win for you too if you join!" Meilin argued. One look at Haruhi's face and I knew she was gonna say yes.

"Okay." Haruhi agreed. "I'll join you guys." She smiled happily. She was putty in that kid's hands but I didn't doubt her usefulness.

"Woo-hoo! I'll have you guys registered tomorrow; for now let's all get some shut eye!" Nickole cheered.

Boy did that sound like a good plan to me. I don't think I ever fell asleep faster than when my head hit the pillow that same night... morning... whatever.

**Another fic I didn't expect to finish in one night. The ships coming into my mind... I see them now. Also, Nickole is heavily based off of _my _personality because a friend calculated god tiers and stuffz and I am The Monk of Hope. It sounds better than it actually is, trust me. She also has my irl first name but spelled differently. And no I do not spell it "Nicole" cuz that's boring. Though, with the way I do spell it if there's a sub for attendance they always think I'm a dude named Nicholas because my last name is sooooo frooking long! I liked The Carrot Goddess better. Tho, I still am the Carrot Goddess sooooo yeah. XD And now I should prolly go shower and sleep because school sucks and I have it tomorrow. Didn't do my homework though... well, in the morning and over the weekend! I hope you guys liked the few members of the guild shown here. As always, there are more. I might write more with these guys I might not, most are still in the works personality-wise and ALL need backstories still. Let me know what you guys think of them, night! XD OH! And Jaye and Henry were named by mah friend anglemassacre cuz I was talking to her when I made them. Soooo, that's REALLY it, night for good now! =)**


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